CIVIC IDENTITY IN THE REAL WORLDHow Multi-Term Undergraduate Civic Engagement

Programs Impact Civic Action After College

Project Description and Objectives

• The Public Service Scholars Program, Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University (one-year model)

• Citizen Scholars Program, Commonwealth College at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst (two-year model)

• Public and Community Service Studies major, Providence College (four-year model)

Objectives:• To identify the long-term impacts of these programs.• To determine how these programs influence civic identity and civic

action after college.

The study focuses on three sustained, developmental, cohort-based service-learning programs offered to undergraduate students:

Conceptual Framework

Multi-Term Curricular Experiences that Develop Civic Identity

Sustained Developmental Approach

Persistent Engagement Continuity and Repetition Accumulation of Experience Increasing Complexity

Commitment to Fundamental Values

Diversity Social Justice Active Citizenship Reflective Practice

Cohort Model

Collaboration and Teamwork Challenge and Support “Reference Group” Connection and Community

Public Service Scholars Program (PSSP)

Haas Center for Public Service

Stanford University

Public Service Scholars Program (PSSP)

• Established in 1994

• Provides guidance to undergraduate students eager to integrate their public service commitments with their academic coursework and research interests through an honors thesis capstone.

• Participation in the program is designed to promote civic learning outcomes related to positionality, cultural humility and curiosity, effective communication and cooperation, and public action.

Public Service Scholars Program (PSSP)

• Students participate concurrently in their departmental honors program and a yearlong, credit bearing seminar (Urban Studies 198: Senior Research in Public Service) with their PSSP peers.

• With assistance from their faculty thesis advisors – and often with input from community partners – students design and implement a research study that meets the standards of academic rigor in their disciplines.

• Throughout the year, students develop community-based translations of their research – for example, a public service plan and public presentations of their research.

http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/haas/pssp

Citizen Scholars Program (CSP)

Commonwealth College

University of Massachusetts

Amherst

MISSION: to produce community leaders who have the knowledge, the skills and the vision to be agents of progressive change.

CHARACTERISTICS: selective, service-learning based, scholarship supported, open to students from all majors who are also enrolled in the Commonwealth Honors College at UMass.

REQUIREMENTS: Five courses – four in sequence plus one elective; Students complete a minimum of 240 hours of public service.

Citizen Scholars Program (CSP)

Citizen Scholars Program (CSP)

CURRICULUM: Four courses in sequence plus one elective in social or political theory. The Required Courses include.

The Good Society – focusing on developing a vision Tools for Change – an exploration of theory and practice associated

with how change gets made. Public Policy Community Organizing

• The last two courses fulfill the capstone requirement for the Honors College and involve developing community based projects in policy and organizing in collaboration with a community based organization.

http://www.honors.umass.edu/academics/csl/students/citizenScholars.html

Public and Community Service Studies (Feinstein) Program

Providence College

Public and Community Service Studies (Feinstein) Program

• Interdisciplinary Academic Major and Minor• 11 Core Courses; 3-course Concentration• 2 full-year experiences (Practicum, Capstone)• First Graduating Class: 1997• Total Number of Graduates to Date: 150

Public and Community Service Studies (Feinstein) Program

PSP Major: 6 Core Competencies1. Eloquent Listening

2. Organizational Competencies

3. Cross-Cultural Competencies

4. Values Clarification & Critical Reflection

5. Writing & Public Speaking

6. Specific Issue/Content Competency

http://www.providence.edu/Feinstein/

Research Questions

• What are our graduates doing?

• How do program alumni define their responsibility to and membership in communities?

• What do program alumni believe and understand about citizenship now that they lead lives outside the college environment?

• Have program alumni’s civic engagement experiences in college affected their perceptions of themselves as civic actors and their commitment to civic action? If so, which curricular and instructional practices do alumni consider most influential?

• Are themes and goals of the program still present in graduates’ lives?

• How have program alumni applied the lessons learned in these programs, and in what ways do they make meaning of those experiences?

Research Design: Why Alumni?

3 different programs, similar framework Interested in impact on civic identity/action over time Not only “whether,” but how, long-term persistence of

articulated program outcomes Importance of cross-institutional, longitudinal research

for this field (HERI, Bonner Scholars)

Mixed Methods Sequential Exploratory Design

QUAL data collection: interviews

QUAL data collection: interviews

QUAL data analysis: codes & themes

QUAL data analysis: codes & themes

survey instrument construction grounded in

interview data

survey instrument construction grounded in

interview data

survey instrument pretest & revision survey instrument pretest & revision

quan data collection: survey instrument

administered to all alumni (3+)

quan data collection: survey instrument

administered to all alumni (3+)

quan data analysis: statistical analysis

quan data analysis: statistical analysis

qual data collection: focus groups

qual data collection: focus groups

qual data analysis:codes & themes

qual data analysis:codes & themes

interpretation of entire analysis

interpretation of entire analysis

Contributions

DRAFT: Interview Protocol

For Questions, Feedback, or More InformationRick Battistoni, Providence Collegerickbatt@providence.eduArt Keene, University of Massachusetts Amherstkeene@anthro.umass.eduTania D. Mitchell, Stanford Universitytanmitch@stanford.eduJohn Reiff, University of Massachusetts Amherstjreiff@honors.umass.eduVirginia Visconti, Stanford Universityvav08@stanford.edu

Thank You!